DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College volleyball team battled tough but ultimately fell 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-22, 25-17) to No. 8 Colorado School of Mines in conference play on Saturday night inside of Whalen Gymnasium.
The Skyhawks drop to 2-8 overall and 2-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while the Orediggers improve to 13-1 on the year and 6-0 in the league.
Fort Lewis hit .215 for the match compared to .356 for Colorado School of Mines. The Skyhawks held an edge in aces (6-4) and blocks (7-3) for the match. Sophomore
Chay Swenson led the team in kills for the second time in as many matches with 11 to her credit. Junior
Payton Harmann coordinated the offense with 36 assists to go along with a team-high 13 digs. Junior
Rylee Johnson was stout at the net with four total blocks.
"Today we looked relentless on the court. We knew that we needed to attack this team with an aggressive attitude because they are one of the top teams in the nation for a reason," said head coach
Giedre Tarnauskaite. "Holding back wasn't an option, and I'm really proud of how we stayed composed during some of the big moments."
Set One (16-25)
The Skyhawks were right in the match from the jump with a pair of Swenson kills knotting the score at 5-5. From there, Mines enjoyed a 7-1 scoring run to pull away at 13-7. Fort Lewis picked up the set's first block from seniors
Cameron Callahan and
Avynn La Rose to cut the lead to 23-15, but the Orediggers closed out the set in 25-16 fashion. The Orediggers sided out at an 82% clip for the set compared to 52% for the Skyhawks.
Set Two (25-18)
The Fort Lewis attackers tallied kills early in the second set to see the home team ahead 8-5. The Skyhawks continued to fight off the pursuing Orediggers, keeping the opposition from going on any scoring runs. Fort Lewis saw a 20-14 advantage after a 4-0 run that was capped off by a block from Johnson and Swenson. La Rose found space for a kill to bring on set point, and freshman
Alexis Hobie closed it out with a perfectly placed service ace down the line. Side out trends were reversed in the second set with FLC owning an 82% to just 52% for Mines.
Set Three (22-25)
The Orediggers came out of the break to go up 7-2 before a block from Hobie and La Rose slowed the momentum. The visitors took the lead to 11-5 before a four-point run pulled Fort Lewis within a pair. Mines righted the ship to take another commanding lead, but the Skyhawks came soaring back into the set to keep it a two-point contest. Junior
Kamryn Lopez dropped in a clutch ace to narrow the defecit to 22-21, but Mines prevailed in the late points to take the 2-1 advantage.
Set Four (17-25)
Fort Lewis saw an early 4-3 advantage after a solo block from La Rose, and the team held that lead until Mines scored seven in a row to go up 13-8. The Skyhawks responded with four-straight behind kills from Johnson, Swenson, and Harmann to pull within one. The Orediggers dug deep after the brief run to reach a 22-15 lead. Swenson scored the final point for the Skyhawks on her 11
th kill of the match as the visitors closed it out, 25-17.
Final Comments from Coach Tarnauskaite
"Even though we didn't get the result we wanted, how we competed has me feeling like I couldn't have asked for more out of my players. I want my team to realize that they can hang with one of the top teams in the nation, and they can be one of those teams."
Up Next
Fort Lewis (2-8, 2-4 RMAC) remains home next week for some Friday/Saturday conference action. First, the team squares off with Colorado Mesa University on Friday, October 8 for a 6:00 p.m. start. The weekend will wrap up with a 3:00 p.m. Saturday match against Westminster College.
